effect

In our last conversation about Mass Effect: Andromeda, we had divided opinions about its first few hours. I’d read it as a critique of the wonder and optimism that comes with space operas, but this is Mass Effect. There was such a great opportunity to do the ‘aliens land on earth’ story in reverse, with awe-struck aliens reacting to the existence of humans. There was such a great opportunity to do the ‘aliens land on earth’ story in reverse, with awe-struck aliens reacting to the existence of hu

#nofilterMass Effect: Andromeda’s menus are their own game, taking the form of a traditional folder hierarchy, burying types and subtypes of armor, weapons, and modifications beneath layers of garish UI. Milky Way weapons are the most vanilla of the bunch, looking and behaving most like their real life counterparts. Remnant weapons are all erratic energy weapons that don’t use ammo, but can overheat if fired continuously for too long (remember Mass Effect 1?). The more teams out, the more resour

In its closing moments, Andromeda made me feel the way I felt when I finished Mass Effect 1 for the first time. Mass Effect 1 was where you met Garrus, but Mass Effect 2 is where he picked up a cool scar and became your best friend. If Mass Effect 1 is defined by invention and Mass Effect 2 by reinvention, then Mass Effect 3's job was to consolidate everything that came before it into a coherent whole. It inherits Mass Effect 1's sense of scale but applies greater craft to the creation of a smal

Mass Effect: Andromeda is nearly a week away, and with it comes the return of Loyalty missions. The gameplay demo showcases squadmate Liam Kosta's Loyalty mission. These types of missions weren't present in Mass Effect 3, but they were a critical part of the second game. That even includes us at PC Gamer, to the point where we even ranked the best Mass Effect companions, from worst to best. Mass Effect: Andromeda releases for PC on March 21.

Update (March 10): We've received a little clarification on the question of exactly how well Mass Effect: Andromeda will perform on a 3GB GTX 1060. At PAX East today, we asked producer Michael Gamble if the card would really deliver 30 fps at best on high. The recommended, at least on my machine at home, I have a 1060, I run at higher than 30 [fps] for the majority of the game. We have a GTX 1060 in the office, so as soon as we can we'll test Andromeda with it and report back on how it performs.

It might not happen anytime soon, nor ever, but I'd really, really, really love to see this idea taken further. Andy Kelly: Link to the pastThis week I wrote about how the Steam Link has changed the way I play PC games , which remains the high point of my gaming week. We are steadily approaching the point where there will be more Mass Effect: Andromeda trailers than there are stars in the actual Andromeda galaxy. breaking: new mass effect andromeda trailer just goes ahead and shows 100% of the g

Update: The Mass Effect portion of the stream is over, but you can watch the VOD above. (If the video doesn't start at the correct time, the Andromeda stuff begins at around 2:57:10 with the launch trailer.) I've broken down some of what was discussed, namely the number of characters, in another story. From right this moment until 2 pm Eastern, when the livestream switches to Prey, you can watch some unedited Mass Effect: Andromeda gameplay on Twitch's own Twitch channel. What's more, Tom is on

The first thing I did at PAX East this year was jump into Mass Effect Andromeda's multiplayer horde mode. The mode I played pit us against seven waves of enemies attacking the small outpost we were held up in. Like Mass Effect 3, the final wave had us fight our way to an extraction point until escape arrived. The other part of Andromeda's multiplayer I'm hoping will add depth is the customization, which we didn't get to see. If nothing else, Mass Effect Andromeda's multiplayer has gotten me more

Despite being over a week away from release, the Mass Effect: Andromeda launch trailer has joined EA and Bioware's final marketing sprint. There have been a lot of trailers, but this could be the last. Also, we get a glimpse of a planetary shield I don't think we've seen before. We recently got some new info on the Mass Effect: Andromeda system requirements, and our own Tom Marks is on the ground in Boston today to play the co-op multiplayer for the first time—he'll have thoughts on that soon. M